Gel processing systems for electrophoresis, imaging, and analysis, software and methods

Abstract

The present teachings describe gel processing systems comprising at least an electrophoresis device and a computer system operably linked to perform electrophoresis. Systems of the disclosure may also comprise gel imaging systems, image capture systems, gel illumination systems and/or gel/image analysis systems. A computer system of the disclosure may comprise software components including graphical user interface (GUI) specifications and functional specifications. The disclosure also describes methods for gel processing performed on a gel processing system. Methods of the disclosure may comprise performing electrophoresis and in some embodiments, one or more additional steps, such as imaging, analysis, report generation and transfer of data to external sources. Methods and workflows of the disclosure may be user controlled and customized by using the GUI and other software and hardware functional components of the computer system. Users may input and/or select several parameters for performing electrophoresis/imaging/analysis using the systems and methods of the disclosure.

1 . A gel processing system comprising:
 a gel electrophoresis system; and   a computer system comprising a computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions, which, when executed by the computer system, are configured to display on a display;   wherein the gel electrophoresis system and the computer system are operably associated with each other.   
     
     
         2 . The gel processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the gel electrophoresis system further comprises:
 a gel electrophoresis device;   a gel imaging system;   a gel illumination system;   an image capture system; and   an image analysis system;   wherein the gel electrophoresis device, the gel imaging system, the gel illumination system, the image capture system, and the image analysis system are all housed within a single housing.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the gel electrophoresis system and the computer system are both housed within a single housing. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the gel electrophoresis device comprises at least two gel buffer reservoirs, at least two gel holders, and at least one anode and at least one cathode for each of the at least two gel holders. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the gel illumination system comprises at least one light source configured to illuminate at least one electrophoresis gel when the gel is placed in the gel processing system. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the at least one light source comprises at least one blue light source. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the image capture system comprises at least one digital camera. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the image capture system is configured to provide real time imaging of at least one electrophoresis gel during electrophoresis. 
     
     
         9 . A method of performing gel electrophoresis comprising:
 performing electrophoresis on at least one labeled sample in a gel processing system comprising:
 a gel electrophoresis system; and 
 a computer system comprising a computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions, which, when executed by the computer system, are configured to display on a display, wherein the gel electrophoresis system and the computer system are operably associated with each other; 
   the method comprising:
 running a system check on the computer system components; 
 running a system check on the gel electrophoresis system components and on an at least one gel loaded with the at least one labeled sample in the gel electrophoresis system; 
 generating at least one method file comprising computer readable instructions and having a plurality of electrophoresis parameters in the computer system; and 
 performing electrophoresis comprising executing the at least one method file comprising computer readable instructions by the computer system to obtain at least one electrophoresed sample. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 imaging the at least one labeled sample with an image capture system to obtain an imaged sample, wherein the performing electrophoresis step and the imaging step are operably associated with each other and the imaging is executed at least in-part by the computer system.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 analyzing the imaged sample with an image analysis system operably associated with the image capture system, wherein the analyzing is executed at least in-part by the computer system.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising generating reports of the analyzed image sample, wherein the generating reports is executed at least in-part by the computer system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising performing electrophoresis on at least one labeled protein standard simultaneously with the at least one labeled sample. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising analyzing the electrophoresed sample to determine the molecular weight of the at least one labeled sample. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising plotting molecular weight of the labeled protein standards in a curve and plotting the data of at least one labeled protein from the at least one labeled sample onto the curve to determine the molecular weight of the at least one labeled protein. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising analyzing the electrophoresed sample to determine the relative amount of at least one labeled protein comprised in the at least one labeled sample. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising analyzing the electrophoresed sample to determine an absolute amount of the at least one labeled protein in the sample. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the method is performed in less than about 30 minutes. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the method is performed in less than about 15 minutes. 
     
     
         20 . A method of performing electrophoresis comprising:
 performing electrophoresis on at least one labeled sample in a gel processing system comprising:
 a gel electrophoresis system; and 
 a computer system computer system comprising a computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions, which, when executed by the computer system, are configured to display on a display, wherein the gel electrophoresis system and the computer system are operably associated with each other, 
   the method comprising:
 setting up at least one gel loaded with the at least one labeled sample in the gel electrophoresis system; 
 running a system check on the computer system components; 
 running a system check on the gel electrophoresis components and on the at least one gel loaded with the at least one labeled sample in the gel electrophoresis system; 
 generating at least a first set of computer readable instructions comprising a plurality of electrophoresis parameters; and 
 performing electrophoresis comprising executing the first set of computer readable instructions by the computer system interfacing with the gel electrophoresis system to obtain at least one electrophoresed labeled sample. 
   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising generating at least a second set of computer readable instructions having a plurality of imaging parameters. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising imaging the at least one electrophoresed labeled sample with an image capture system to obtain an imaged sample, comprising executing the at least second set of computer readable instructions by the computer system interfacing with the image capture system. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  comprising generating at least a third set of computer readable instructions having a plurality of analysis parameters. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising
 analyzing the imaged sample with an image analysis system operably associated with the image capture system, comprising executing the third set of computer readable instructions by the computer system interfacing with the image analysis system.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  comprising generating at least a fourth set of computer readable instructions having a plurality of report generation parameters. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising
 generating reports of the analyzed image sample, comprising executing the at least fourth set of computer readable instructions by the computer system interfacing with electrophoresis system.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 20 , generating file spaces for storing one or more data files relating to the electrophoresis in the computer system. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the method is performed in less than about 60 minutes.